Our Global Coffee

Fonté Coffee Roaster is a Seattle based micro roaster dedicated to an artisan approach of roasting. We roast in small “human scale” batches. As the specialty coffee market has developed over our 20 plus years in the business our focus has been on providing clients with a wide range of coffees to meet the requirements of the multiple contexts in which they serve their customers. From banquets to fine dining we provide an exceptional choice of coffees, fresh roasted to order.

Sustainability is a core value for Fonté Coffee, and these concepts guide the decisions we make. We believe that everyone in the coffee supply chain deserves to prosper. The partnerships we have formed over the past two decades in the coffee business is with farmers that form the sustainable coffee model.

In order to fulfill our client’s needs we source our coffees through multiple channels. We deal directly with the farmer, we purchase from brokers who consolidate the production of small farmers and co-ops, we also purchase through development programs designed to maximize the farmer’s return.

We work with small farms around the world that have been in the coffee business, for sometimes over five generations, as we believe that buying from smaller farms who make it a priority to support their workers to create a sustainable life and support their economy, ensuring the product is top quality.

Sharing the stories of the farms and families we work with builds our transparency to allow our customers to know who we are and what makes our coffees so special to the industry.

Our commitment to sustainability also includes our work here at home—we partner with local organizations that share and realize the importance of doing business responsibly.

This mission drives us to consider the social, environmental and fiscal implications in every decision that we make, whether it regards our operations, our suppliers, or our customers and communities.

We support many nonprofits and local businesses that have similar missions, and who care about the ideas that we do by donating products in support of what they do and we make sure that this support goes to those who honor and believe that sustainability is an important part of what we do.

Much of our support goes to nutrition programs here in Seattle and we raise money specifically for that cause, helping fund important nutrition programs that provide extraordinary healthy meals to children.

We are able to join forces with our customers to support non-profits doing great work locally and we are proud of that.

We believe in nurturing the potential of every aspect of our business, including coffee buying. Direct communication helps us to build long-term relationships in the supply chain. And those relationships allow us to work with coffee farmers and farmer who work to provide improved quality, encourage ecologically sustainable agricultural practices, and assess social issues—all of which help educate us and our customers to learn more about the cultures and farmers who produce great coffee.

We work with excellent importers. We are provided with a lot of information about the coffees through them, but we also create direct relationships with the farms and co-ops, and exporters to ensure we know exactly what farms we are buying from and their process of the farms they manage and run.

The quality of the coffee we roast and the people that are involved with the steps in maintaining high standards are important to us. Our philosophy is to test and taste all of the beans before we purchase to ensure our standards for quality and sustainability are met.

Fonté Coffee Roaster is certified as an organic handler by the Washington State Department of Agriculture in accordance with national and international organic certifications. We maintain an active participation and membership in the Cup of Excellence program administered by the Alliance for Coffee Excellence. We are past members of TransFair USA and have participated in the Rain Forest Alliance at client request.

We recognize the consumer’s desire to support socially responsible methods of sourcing and production, at the same time understanding the complexities involved in achieving and implementing these methods, such that we do not seek out certifications for their own sake, preferring to address the issues head on with each purchase we make. In this way we avoid oversimplification and remain open to all responsible producers.